Louisville restaurant owners frustrated over lack of timeline on when to reopen

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Derby weekend would normally have been the busiest time of the year for Louisville's restaurants, but COVID-19 has changed all of that.

There's no plan yet for when Kentucky restaurants will be allowed to unlock their dining rooms, and that has many local eateries frustrated. Stacy Roof of the Kentucky Restaurant Association said her organization has submitted a plan to Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear to allow restaurants to reopen. But so far, she said she's received no response.

"I'm trying to work with Gov. Beshear and his office, but we really haven't been contacted at all," she said. "There's been no communication whatsoever from them about a possible date, and our operators are desperate."

Roof said the association's proposal follows federal guidelines for food safety, sanitation, face covering and social distancing in what is already a heavily regulated industry.

"We want a date," Roof said. "We want to know what to expect, because we've got to plan."

But, for now, dining rooms remain closed in what would have been peak Derby season.

"It's huge," she said. "Millions of dollars."

T.J. Oakley, the operator of the Bristol Bar and Grille, said he hopes to recover some of the losses later.

"We've obviously missed the big quarter of the year that all of the restaurants look forward to," he added. "But hopefully that quarter has been shifted to the fall with the Derby in September."

But Roof said some restaurants are just hoping to survive that long.

"We don't want to see any more lose their hopes and dreams because we're putting off that opening when other businesses are allowed to open," she said.